ANKARA (Reuters) - Two Turkish soldiers were killed after a mine was detonated by Kurdish militants on a highway between the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakir and Mardin, Turkey’s private Dogan news agency said on Wednesday.

The soldiers were carrying out operations to detect mines in the region when militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) detonated a previously planted mine, Dogan said.

Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast has been ravaged by violence since the autonomy-seeking PKK abandoned a 2-1/2-year ceasefire with the state in July 2015. The PKK has repeatedly targeted security forces since, claiming responsibility for a series of deadly bombings and attacks over the past year.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the PKK took up arms in 1984. It is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.